


Smitten

by bloodandcream



Series: Ship all the Ships [64]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Funeral Home AU, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-06
Updated: 2015-10-06
Packaged: 2018-04-25 02:56:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4944058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodandcream/pseuds/bloodandcream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The old oak tree on the far side of the house smacked against the siding and scraped the windows as it was beaten around by the wind. Meg considered calling Tessa, and wondered if it would be a distraction while she was driving. Settling on a simple text, she let Tessa know it would be best to keep the body another day and not risk the drive. Meg still stood watch at the front window.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Smitten

Rain pelted loudly against glass window panes as Meg stood in the front parlor looking out at the late evening storm, watching the winding gravel drive way for a flash of headlights. Tapping her fingernails against her cell phone, she considered calling Tessa to tell her to just keep the body in the hospital morgue for another day. The wake wouldn’t be held for two days, Meg could prepare him tomorrow. The country roads weren’t safe in these conditions, the bridge that led from the main road to the hillside road up to her father’s funeral home was usually washed out in severe storms.

The day had been gray and gloomy since morning but it had only started a light drizzle around dinner. It was still pleasantly gentle when Tessa called Meg to see if she was there to take the body. The storm had come in fast and unmerciful, turning from soft raindrops to a crackling lightning and lashing wind in a blink.

The old oak tree on the far side of the house smacked against the siding and scraped the windows as it was beaten around by the wind. Meg considered calling Tessa, and wondered if it would be a distraction while she was driving. Settling on a simple text, she let Tessa know it would be best to keep the body another day and not risk the drive. Meg still stood watch at the front window.

She was worrying about the drains in the basement backing up when headlights slanted through the window and streaked across the wall before disappearing again as the large white van trundled behind the house to park. Meg made her way back through the grand Victorian house to the service entrance off the kitchen which led to the basement elevator.

Throwing the back door open, the storm door clattering against the side of the house with the wind, Meg was halfway down the ramp to help Tessa who had already pulled the gurney from the van and started pushing up the ramp. Helping tug it along, Tessa kicked the door shut behind her as the two of them stood dripping in the entry way with the body. At least he was in a plastic bag.

“I wasn’t sure if you were gonna make it,” Meg said as she brushed already drenched hair out of her eyes.

Tessa heaved a sigh and gave a weak smile, “I was already half way here when the storm really hit.”

Meg wheeled the gurney over to the elevator and left him there. “C’mon, he’ll keep for a minute, I’ll get you a change of clothes upstairs.”

“Oh you don’t have to –“

“I know the bridge is going to be washed out by now, and if it’s not it’ll be unsafe.”

Leading the way back through the house, dripping on the plush red oriental carpet and Meg knew her father would have a fit if he were home, she led Tessa up the wide winding stairs to her own bedroom at the back of the house.

Tessa huffed behind her, “Thank you. I don’t want to impose.”

Meg rifled through her dresser in her tidy kept room for something that would fit, they were pretty close in size she figured. “Don’t worry about it. Dad’s out of town for a conference anyway, it’s just me. Not like we get much lively company around here.”

Tessa smiled quietly, she was a very reserved and polite lady. Her black slacks and black button down clung to her wetly as they padded down the hall to the bathroom.

“I appreciate the dry clothes.”

“I think they’ll fit. Come back down to the kitchen when your changed, I’ll put on some coffee once I get the body to the fridge. There’s towels in that cupboard.”

Accepting the bundle of clothes, Tessa murmured another ‘thank you’ before shutting the bathroom door. Meg changed quickly in her own bedroom, even a minute out in the storm had her thoroughly wet. Jogging downstairs, she wheeled the body into the elevator and took him downstairs to put him in the fridge. She could do all her intake paperwork later, he just needed to chill for now.

In soft worn jeans and a loose black tee, Meg washed her hands and dried them on her thighs as she made her way back upstairs. Setting coffee on, she searched the cupboards for any kind of biscuits or cookies to go with it. She didn’t hear Tessa come in until the scrape of a chair on the linoleum floor made her presence known.

Meg had never seen the cadaver delivery girl in anything but her uniform. Admittedly, she had given Tessa a pair of pajamas she didn’t wear very much because her father had bought them for her and Meg didn’t like the cutesy flower pattern. That just meant they were in good condition. But Tessa looked sweet in a white tee and pastel pants, short black hair messy like she had finger combed it.

“Those fit all right?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“You don’t have to keep saying thanks to everything. Do you take your coffee with cream or sugar?”

“Black.”

“Sure.”

Tessa nodded and folded her hands on the old worn wood table. The coffee machine sputtered as it finished it’s pot, and Meg poured it into two plain green mugs. Spooning sugar into her own, she took them to table and set the other in front of Tessa. Plating a few slices of hopefully only kind of stale zucchini bread that she’d made several days ago, Meg sat at the table with Tessa and they ate quietly, sipping hot coffee.

When the bread was crumbs, Meg leaned back cradling her warm mug. “So I’ve seen you around here a lot more, what happened to that old guy that always did deliveries? You know, I feel bad I can never seem to remember his name.”

Tessa smiled over the lip of her mug like she knew a secret and only answered, “Old age is finally catching up to him, he’s gone down to part time and I’m picking up the slack.”

“Mm. Can’t be too busy, small town like this, we don’t get much business. Enough to keep going.”

“Death is one thing the economy holds no sway over.”

Meg was about to ask if Tessa wanted a refill when a clap of thunder boomed with the resounding crack of a hit tree. The gloomy evening had slipped easily into nighttime and when the lights flickered out it was midnight dark. Sighing, Meg set her mug on the table and fumbled around the kitchen by feel to the utility drawer. They had generators to keep refrigerators in the basement running, but the main house wasn’t hooked up to them. Finding the candles and matches, she lit them and settled the thick bases on a plate to set on the table.

“More coffee?”

Tessa, face calm and undisturbed in the slightest, passed her mug over.

They sat at the kitchen table in the flickering low light and drank the whole pot of coffee between them as they chatted. Tessa was even prettier in candlelight, the soft roundness of her face changed with the shadows into something more angular and other worldly. Meg tried not to stare too hard, it was easy for her to get a crush on any pretty girl. She didn’t really know what Tessa was into, and it wasn’t exactly professional to ask those sorts of questions.

Instead, she kept to safe topics, about the spring gardening fair that would be held downtown soon, the new bakery opening up, and the work they had in common. Tessa didn’t elaborate much, or offer questions of her own, and they lapsed into quiet. When the coffee pot was empty, Meg washed the mugs and leaned against the counter drying her hands on a towel.

“You can stay the night if you want, we have a spare bed room.”

Tessa sat with her hands folded in her lap. “I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“It’s really not a problem. There could be downed trees and washed out sections of the drive, that won’t be safe when it’s so dark. Do you need to get in touch with anyone from work?”

“I’ll call in. If you’re sure it’s all right, I appreciate the hospitality.”

Meg picked up the candle from the table and led the way back upstairs. Saying they had a guest room was an understatement. Although a lot of the space of the large house was used for the funeral home, they still had five bedrooms upstairs. With Tom moved out, that was three extra rooms that were used for storage mostly, but one was kept as a spare bed room.

Meg stopped outside the room in the hallway and shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. You know where the bathroom is, feel free to use what you need, and you can take anything from the kitchen too.”

Tessa smiled and nodded, half in the room and half in the hall.

Meg passed her the candle, “Here take this, I know my way around the house by feel.”

“Thank you.”

Meg was glad it was dark because she could feel the heat in her cheeks that meant she was blushing, and it was a sad state of affairs that she was so cooped up in the house with work she hadn’t had a girlfriend in a long time. She knew she was hovering, but she was waiting for a cue to leave.

Instead, Tessa held the candle out to the side and reached across the space between them to lay a hand on Meg’s shoulder and gently pull her closer. She went with the suggestion easily, and Tessa leaned in to kiss her lightly. It was chaste and sweet and so different from Meg’s usual roughness, but she found it easy to follow Tessa’s lead.

When Tessa pulled back, she was smiling and Meg still had no idea if she was supposed to leave or not.

Tessa backed into the room and said a quiet ‘Goodnight’ before shutting the door. Meg huffed in frustration before retreating through the dark hallway. Well. That answered some of her questions, although she had so many more to replace them now.

The next morning, she was planning on making breakfast for Tessa, and maybe asking if she wanted to go to the gardening fair together, but the house was empty and quiet. She might be offended by that, but the smell of fresh coffee wafted through the house from the kitchen. Meg found a half empty pot on the counter. A mug sat next to it, with a slip of paper underneath. Tessa had left already, but she had scrawled her number down and doodled a little skull next to it.

Meg was smitten.


End file.
